This page will contain additional articles about ronaldinho, as they become available.RonaldinhoRonaldinho in action for BarcelonaRonaldo de Assis Moreira (born March 21, 1980 in Porto Alegre, Brazil) is a footballer more commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho due to his citizenship in the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil. His name Ronaldinho, portugese for "little ronaldo", was originally devised as a means of distinguishing between himself, and fellow Brazilian footballer Ronaldo. Among his many achievements and accolades, Ronaldinho has been awarded the FIFA World Player of the Year award twice as well as both the European Footballer of the Year award and the FIFPro World Player of the Year award once. He is widely regarded as the best player in the world. HistoryChildhoodIn his childhood, Ronaldinho's skill in football began to blossom due to his particular interest in futsal and beach football, which later developed into a fondness for more standardised football. His first brush with the media came after a 23 goal flurry from Ronaldinho at just 13 years of age. His reputation as a footballer was upheld during most of his childhood, particularly due to the fact he was the top scorer in the Egypt under-17 world championship, and to his stylish play. Professional careerHis professional career began at Grêmio, where his penchant for goalscoring was displayed; generating speculation and interest around his career due to his phenomenal ball control and ability to score. This was followed by his introduction into the Brazilian national team. On his first appearance (on June 26, 1999) his winning goal against Venezuela helped the team win the Copa América. Towards the end of his career at Grêmio, in 2001, many clubs from all over the world, particularly premiership teams in the United Kingdom, were eager to sign him as an attempt to attain a "big name" player, as well as a well performing player. Despite several generous bids from Premiership teams, and several requests from Grêmio, Ronaldinho signed a five-year contract for Paris Saint-Germain, and started his contract at the beginning of the following season. During his time at PSG, the manager, Luis Fernandez, claimed that Ronaldinho was too focused on the Parisian nightlife rather than on his football.
In 2003, Ronaldinho made it known he wanted to leave PSG after they failed to qualify for any European competitions. That set off a bidding war among the top clubs for his services. On July 19, FC Barcelona snapped him up for €27 million, beating Manchester United to his signature. Ronaldinho justified their purchase, leading them to a second-place finish in La Liga during the 03/04 season. Together with Samuel Eto'o, Deco, Ludovic Giuly and Henrik Larsson, he comprises part of an awesome strike force which reaped the 2004/05 La Liga title for FC Barcelona On December 20, 2004, Ronaldinho was named FIFA World Player of the Year ahead of Arsenal's Thierry Henry and AC Milan's Andriy Shevchenko. On June 29, 2005, he played a pivotal role as the captain of the Brazilian squad which won its second FIFA Confederations Cup title, where he was named Man of the Match in a 4–1 victory over Argentina in the final. Pelé named Ronaldinho in his 125 Top Living Footballers in March 2004. On November 19, 2005, he scored two amazing goals to help FC Barcelona to a 3–0 win over arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid. There he stole the ball from the center and scored with remarkable breaks, luring in the process most of Madrid players. After he scored his second goal of the night, his team's third, a large part of the Madrid faithfuls gave him a standing ovation, a rare feat which occurred last when Diego Maradona was in Barcelona. In 2005 Ronaldinho was named as both the European Footballer of the Year and the best striker in the UEFA Champions League tournament of 2004/2005. Ronaldinho is the third Brazilian to win the European Footballer of the Year Award[1]. On December 19, 2005, he was again named FIFA World Player of the Year ahead of Chelsea's Frank Lampard and Barça teammate Samuel Eto'o with 910 votes. In December 2005, he and Mauricio de Sousa, a famous Brazilian comic book author, announced the creation of a comic character based upon Ronaldinho, his brother and his mother. Ronaldinho has a son named Joao, who was born in February 2005. He was chosen for the UEFA team of 2005 for the third time running in January 2006. He recieved more votes than any other player in that team. Over 1.5 million people participated in that vote. This page about ronaldinho includes information from a Wikipedia article. Additional articles about ronaldinho News stories about ronaldinho External links for ronaldinho Videos for ronaldinho Wikis about ronaldinho Discussion Groups about ronaldinho Blogs about ronaldinho Images of ronaldinho |
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Over 1.5 million people participated in that vote. Poland has also had a strong influence on the countries surrounding it. He recieved more votes than any other player in that team. Today, we can see these influences in Polish architecture, folklore and art. He was chosen for the UEFA team of 2005 for the third time running in January 2006. Polish culture has a rich thousand-year history influenced from both west and east. Ronaldinho has a son named Joao, who was born in February 2005. [6]. In December 2005, he and Mauricio de Sousa, a famous Brazilian comic book author, announced the creation of a comic character based upon Ronaldinho, his brother and his mother. The rest of the population consists mainly of Eastern Orthodox (about 509 500), Jehovah's Witnesses (about 123 034) and various Protestant (about 86 880 in the largest Evangelical-Augsburg Church and about as many in smaller churches) religious minorities. On December 19, 2005, he was again named FIFA World Player of the Year ahead of Chelsea's Frank Lampard and Barça teammate Samuel Eto'o with 910 votes. Most Poles adhere to the Roman Catholic faith and 95% count as practising Catholics. Ronaldinho is the third Brazilian to win the European Footballer of the Year Award[1]. The Polish language, a member of the West Slavic branch of the Slavic languages, functions as the official language of Poland. In 2005 Ronaldinho was named as both the European Footballer of the Year and the best striker in the UEFA Champions League tournament of 2004/2005. The officially recognised ethnic minorities include: Germans, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Jews and Belarusians. After he scored his second goal of the night, his team's third, a large part of the Madrid faithfuls gave him a standing ovation, a rare feat which occurred last when Diego Maradona was in Barcelona. 774,900 people (2.03%) didn't declare any nationality. There he stole the ball from the center and scored with remarkable breaks, luring in the process most of Madrid players. Today 36,983,700 people, or 96.74% of the population considers itself Polish (Census 2002), 471,500 (1.23%) declared another nationality. On November 19, 2005, he scored two amazing goals to help FC Barcelona to a 3–0 win over arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid. However, the outcome of World War II and the following shift westwards to the area between the Curzon line and the Oder-Neisse line gave Poland an appearance of homogeneity. Pelé named Ronaldinho in his 125 Top Living Footballers in March 2004. Poland formerly played host to many languages, cultures, and religions. On June 29, 2005, he played a pivotal role as the captain of the Brazilian squad which won its second FIFA Confederations Cup title, where he was named Man of the Match in a 4–1 victory over Argentina in the final. Nevertheless, despite high expenditures for telecom infrastructure (the coverage increased from 78 users per 1000 inhabitants in 1989 to 282 in 2000) On July 19, FC Barcelona snapped him up for €27 million, beating Manchester United to his signature. Today, Poland has more than a hundred tertiary education instutions; traditional universities to be found in its major cities of Gdańsk, Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Poznań, Rzeszów, Warsaw and Wrocław as well as technical, medical, economic institutions elsewhere, employing around 61,000 workers. That set off a bidding war among the top clubs for his services. In 1773 King Stanisław August Poniatowski established his Commission on National Education (Komisja Edukacji Narodowej), the world's first state ministry of education. In 2003, Ronaldinho made it known he wanted to leave PSG after they failed to qualify for any European competitions. In 1364, in Kraków, the Jagiellonian University, founded by King Kazimierz Wielki, became one of Europe's great early universities. One of the highlights of the tournament was an outrageous (if fortunate) 35-metre lob he scored against England in the quarter-finals in Shizuoka, although he was sent off soon after a harsh foul on Danny Mills. The library catalog of the Cathedral Chapter of Kraków dating back to 1110 shows that already in the early 12th century Polish intellectuals had access to the European literature.
On his first appearance (on June 26, 1999) his winning goal against Venezuela helped the team win the Copa América. There is much speculation as to just when Poland might be ready to join the Eurozone, although the best guess estimates put the entry date somewhere between 2009 and 2013. This was followed by his introduction into the Brazilian national team. The most notable task on the horizon is the preparation of the economy (through continuing deep structural reforms) to allow Poland to meet the strict economic criteria for entry into the European Single Currency. His professional career began at Grêmio, where his penchant for goalscoring was displayed; generating speculation and interest around his career due to his phenomenal ball control and ability to score. Although the Polish economy is currently undergoing an economic boom there are many challenges ahead. His reputation as a footballer was upheld during most of his childhood, particularly due to the fact he was the top scorer in the Egypt under-17 world championship, and to his stylish play. Annual growth rates broken down by quarters:. His first brush with the media came after a 23 goal flurry from Ronaldinho at just 13 years of age. Forecasted GDP for 2006 is 4.3%. In his childhood, Ronaldinho's skill in football began to blossom due to his particular interest in futsal and beach football, which later developed into a fondness for more standardised football. In 2004 GDP growth equalled 5.4%, and in 2005 3.3%. . The prospect of closer integration with the European Union has put the economy back on track, with growth of 3.7% annually in 2003, a rise from 1.4% annually in 2002. He is widely regarded as the best player in the world. GDP growth had been strong and steady from 1993 to 2000 with only a short slowdown from 2001 to 2002. Among his many achievements and accolades, Ronaldinho has been awarded the FIFA World Player of the Year award twice as well as both the European Footballer of the Year award and the FIFPro World Player of the Year award once. Warsaw leads Central Europe in foreign investment and allegedly needs a continued large inflow. His name Ronaldinho, portugese for "little ronaldo", was originally devised as a means of distinguishing between himself, and fellow Brazilian footballer Ronaldo. Structural reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger-than-expected fiscal pressures. Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born March 21, 1980 in Porto Alegre, Brazil) is a footballer more commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho due to his citizenship in the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil. Challenges remain, especially under-investment. Poland has a large agricultural sector of private farms, that could be a leading producer of food in the European Union now that Poland is a member. The biggest privatisations so far were a sale of Telekomunikacja Polska, a national telecom to France Telecom (2000) and an issue of 30% shares of the biggest Polish bank, PKO BP, on the Polish stockmarket (2004). Restructuring and privatisation of "sensitive sectors" (e.g., coal, steel, railways, and energy) has begun. The privatisation of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms have allowed for the rapid development of an aggressive private sector, followed by a development of consumer rights organisations later on. Since its return to democracy, Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of liberalising the economy and today stands out as one of the most successful and open examples of the transition from a partially state-capitalist market economy to a primarily privately owned market economy. Lower levels of administrative division are:. Poland is subdivided into sixteen administrative regions known as voivodships (województwa, singular - województwo):. Poland enjoys a temperate climate, with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters and mild summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms. Remains of the ancient forests survive: see list of forests in Poland. Masuria (Mazury) forms the largest and most-visited lake district in Poland. Poland also contains over 9,300 lakes, predominantly in the north of the country. Several large rivers cross the plains; for instance, the Vistula (Wisła), Oder (Odra), Warta the (Western) Bug. The Polish landscape consists almost entirely of the lowlands of the North European Plain, at an average height of 173 metres (568 ft), though the Sudetes (including the Karkonosze) and the Carpathian Mountains (including the Tatra mountains, where one also finds Poland's highest point, Rysy, at 2,499 m or 8,199 ft) form the southern border. The Ombudsman has the duty of guarding the observance and implementation of the rights and liberties of the human being and of the citizen, the law and principles of community life and social justice. The Sejm (on approval of the Polish Senate) appoints the Ombudsman or the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection (Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich) for a five-year term. Its major institutions include the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy), the Supreme Administrative Court (Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny) (judges appointed by the president of the republic on the recommendation of the National Council of the Judiciary for an indefinite period), the Constitutional Tribunal (Trybunał Konstytucyjny) (judges chosen by the Sejm for nine-year terms) and the Tribunal of State (Trybunał Stanu) (judges chosen by the Sejm for for the current term of office of the Sejm, except for the position of chairperson which is held by the First President of the Supreme Court). The judicial branch plays a minor role in decision-making. Only the first kind has occurred to date. The National Assembly is formed on three occasions: Taking the oath of office by a new president, bringing an indictment against the President of the Republic to the Tribunal of State, and declaration of a President's permanent incapacity to exercise their duties due to the state of their health. When sitting in joint session, members of the Sejm and Senate form the National Assembly, (Polish Zgromadzenie Narodowe). With the exception of ethnic minority parties, only candidates of political parties receiving at least 5% of the total national vote can enter the Sejm. The Senate, on the other hand, is elected under a rare plurality bloc voting method where several candidates with the highest support are elected from each electorate. The Sejm is elected under a proportional representation electoral system using the d'Hondt method similar to that used in many parliamentary political systems. Polish voters elect a two house parliament, consisting of a 460 member lower house Sejm and a 100 member Senate (Senat). The current president is Lech Kaczyński. The president, elected by popular vote every five years, serves as the head of state. The president appoints the cabinet according to the proposals of the prime minister, typically from the majority coalition in the bicameral legislature's lower house (the Sejm). The government structure centres on the Council of Ministers, led by a prime minister. Its current constitution dates from 1997. Poland is a democratic republic. Poland joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. Polish voters then said yes to the EU in a referendum in June 2003. Poland joined the NATO alliance in 1999 along with the Czech Republic and Hungary. Poland was the first post-communist country to regain pre-1989 GDP levels. Despite a temporary slump in social and economic standards, there were numerous improvements in other human rights (free speech, functioning democracy and the like). A shock therapy program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe. The Solidarity movement greatly contributed to the soon-following collapse of Communism all over Eastern Europe. It eroded the dominance of the Communist Party; by 1989 it had triumphed in parliamentary elections, and Lech Wałęsa, a Solidarity candidate, eventually won the presidency in 1990. Labour turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union, "Solidarity", which over time became a political force. It was a time when the economy was more modern, and the government had large credits. In 1970 the government was changed. In 1956 the régime became more liberal, freeing many people from prison and expanding some personal freedoms. The People's Republic of Poland (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa) was officially proclaimed in 1952. In 1948 a turn towards Stalinism brought in the beginning of the next period of totalitarian rule. Military alignment within the Warsaw Pact throughout the Cold War was also part of this change. The Soviet Union instituted a new communist government in Poland, analogous to much of the rest of the Eastern Bloc. The largest number of ethnic Poles outside of the country can be found in the United States. A Polish minority is still present in neighbouring countries of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania, as well as in other countries (see Poles article for the population numbers). As a result of these events, Poland became, for the first time in history, an ethnically unified country. The shift forced the migration of millions of people – Poles, Germans, Ukrainians, Jews. After the shift, Poland emerged 20% smaller by 77,500 km² (29,900 mi²); although the important cities of Gdańsk (Danzig), Szczecin (Stettin) and Wrocław (Breslau) were all incorporated into its post-war borders. On the other hand, the western border of Poland was moved to the Oder-Neisse line. The second aggressor, the Soviet Union, was given the right to occupy former Polish territory in negotiations, which means that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was partially confirmed. At its conclusion, Poland's borders were shifted westwards, pushing the eastern border to the Curzon line, even though the defense of Poland was the reason that France and the United Kingdom had declared war on Germany. Of all the countries involved in the war, Poland lost the highest percentage of its citizens: over 6 million perished, half of them Polish Jews. The eastern part of the German occupied zone was transformed into the General Government area, and the western part was just incorporated to German Reich. Warsaw surrendered on September 28, 1939. The 1926 May Coup of Józef Piłsudski turned the Second Polish Republic into Sanacja that lasted until the start of World War II when Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland. It was established after a series of military conflicts, like the 1919-1921 Polish-Soviet War. Shortly after the surrender of Germany in November 1918, Poland regained its independence as the Second Polish Republic (II Rzeczpospolita Polska). During World War I all the Allies agreed on the restitution of Poland that United States President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed in point 13 of his Fourteen Points. Later in the 19th century, Austrian-ruled Galicia became the oasis of Polish freedom. However, the tsars soon reduced Polish freedoms and Russia eventually de facto annexed the country. The eastern part was ruled by the Russian tsar as a Congress Kingdom, and possessed a liberal constitution. Napoleon recreated a Polish state, the Duchy of Warsaw, but after the Napoleonic wars, Poland was split again by the Allies at the Congress of Vienna. Poles resented their shrinking freedoms and several times rebelled against their oppressors (see List of Polish Uprisings). The process of reforms ceased with the partitions of Poland between Russia, Prussia, and Austria in 1772, 1793 and 1795 which ultimately dissolved the country. The Enlightenment in Poland fostered a growing national movement to repair the state, resulting in what is claimed to be the first modern written constitution in Europe, the Constitution of May 3 in 1791. Russian tsars took advantage of this unique political vulnerability by offering money to Parliamentary traitors, who in turn would consistently and subversively block necessary reforms and new solutions. In Polish Democracy every member of parliament was able to break any work or project by shouting 'Liberum Veto' during the session. During the following 80 years, the waning of the central government and deadlock of the institutions weakened the nation, leading to anarchistic tendencies and a growing dependency on Russia. Numerous wars against the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Cossacks, Transylvania and Brandenburg-Prussia ultimately came to an end in 1699. In the mid-17th century a Swedish invasion rolled through the country in the turbulent time known as "The Deluge" (potop). Poles often call themselves the nation of the free people. Since that time Poles have regarded freedom as their most important value. Landowners gained almost unlimited ownership over serfs. The citizens of Poland took pride in their ancient freedoms and Sejm parliamentary system, although the szlachta monopolised most of the benefits as most of Poles since the middle of the fourteenth century were serfs. A golden age occurred in the 16th century during its union (Lublin Union) with Lithuania in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Under the Jagiellon dynasty, Poland forged an alliance with its neighbour Lithuania. Teeple, ISBN 0-7894-8926-0 www.dk.com Dorling Kindersley). The only areas which escaped were Milan, Poland, Belgium, eastern Germany and part of southwest France." (Page 235 of "Timelines of World History" by John B. Their fortress there had been besieged by Mongol invaders who had suddenly begun to die of a disease that caused black, blood-oozing swellings and immense pain....By 1351, it had spread over most of Europe. Luckily, the Black Death which affected most parts of Europe from 1347 to 1351 did not come to Poland: "One of the greatest calamities in European history began in 1347 when bubonic plague struck, brought to Italy, it is thought, by a group of Genoese returning home through Sicily and Pisa from Kaffa in the Crimea. His son Kazimierz Wielki repaired the Polish economy, built new castles and won the war against the Russian dukedom (Lwów became a Polish City). In 1320 Władysław I became the King of the reunified Poland. In the 12th century Poland fragmented into several smaller states, which were later ravaged by the Mongol armies of the Golden Horde in 1241. Poland's first historically documented ruler, Mieszko I, was baptized in 966, adopting Catholic Christianity as the country's new official religion, to which the bulk of the population converted in the course of the next century. Poland began to form into a recognizable unitary and territorial entity around the middle of the 10th century under the Piast dynasty. It gave rise to an alternative name for "Pole": Lęch, Lęchowie in Old Church Slavonic, Lechia, Lechites in Latin, Lach in Ruthenian, Lyakh in Russian, as well as to old German Lechien, Hungarian Lengyelorszag, Lengyel, Lithuanian Lenkija, lenkas and Turkish Lechistan (from Persian Lehestan). Parallel to this terminology, another one, Lechia, came into use, thought to derive from the tribe name Lędzianie. This is because the Polanie could be descendants of West-Slavs from the South like Serbs, as the above source states. From the source, listed above, there is shown a connection between the people of the South-West Slavic group (such as Serbs) and Poles. Poles belong as a separate category in the Lechitic subgroup of the West-Slavic people. In the tenth century their king was converted to Christianity." To be accurate we must confess, that ruler which was first converted to Christianity wasn't a king at all - it is said he was only a prince (we are talking about Mieszko I). The text reads that "...In the seventh and eighth centuries AD, Slavic peoples from the south-known as Polonie, or plain-dwellers-occupied most of Poland. ISBN 1-55192-413-7. The quoted text is taken from "Geographica's Pocket: World Reference" located on page 549. This is an informative source as to the origins of the name Poland, in Polish: Polska. In old Latin chronicles the terms terra Poloniae (land of Poland) or Regnum Poloniae (kingdom of Poland) appear. The conventional etymology of the ethnic name of the Poles relates it to these Polish Polanie, "dwellers of the field"; pole, "field", analogous to Russian polyî, "open land", from Indo-European pelè-, "flat" + -anie, "inhabitants", analogous to Latin -anus, "originating from" (please compare Yuriev-Polsky). Common opinion holds that the name Polska comes from the Slavic Polanie tribe who established the Polish state in the 10th century (Greater Poland). Their name derives from the tribal name Polanie - people living around Lake Gopło - the cradle of Poland mentioned as Glopeani having 400 strongholds circa 845 (Bavarian Geographer). The names of the country, Polska, and of the nationality, the Poles, are of Slavic origin. Poland's official name in Polish is Rzeczpospolita Polska. . In 1999 Poland acceded to NATO, and in 2004 it joined the European Union. The current Third Polish Republic was established, followed a few years later by the drafting of a new constitution in 1997. In 1989 the first partially-free elections in Poland's post-World War II history concluded the Solidarity (Solidarność) movement's struggle for freedom and resulted in the defeat of Poland's communist rulers. Following the Second World War it became a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union known as the People's Republic of Poland. It regained independence in 1918 in the aftermath of the First World War as the Second Polish Republic. Soon afterwards, the country ceased to exist after being partitioned by its neighbours Russia, Austria, and Prussia. In 1791 the Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth adopted the Constitution of May 3, Europe's first modern codified constitution, and the second in the world after the Constitution of the United States. The Polish state was formed over 1,000 years ago under the Piast dynasty, and reached its golden age near the end of the 16th century under the Jagiellonian dynasty, when Poland was one of the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful countries in Europe. The Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska) is a country located in Central Europe, between Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania, and Russia (in the form of the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave) to the north. Index of Economic Freedom 2005: Rank 41st out of 155 countries. Reporters Without Borders world-wide press freedom index 2004: Rank 32nd out of 167 countries. Human Development Index 2005: Rank 36th out of 177 countries. Słowiński Park Narodowy (highest sand hills). Gothic Wooden Chruches in Subcarpathian and Lesser Poland Voivodships. Białowieża Forest (National Park - largest remaining primeval forest in Europe). Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (Pilgrim´s Place). Świdnica (Baroque Peace Chruch). Jawor (Baroque Peace Church). Oświęcim (Auschwitz concentration camp). Toruń (Gothic Town). Zamość (Renaissance Town). Malbork (Biggest Brick Stone Castle). Wieliczka (Salt mine). Kraków (Old Town). Warszawa (Old Town). The principal ports and harbours are: Port of Gdańsk, Port of Gdynia, Port of Szczecin, Port of Świnoujście, Port of Ustka, Port of Kolobrzeg, Gliwice, Warsaw, Wrocław. The merchant marine consists of 114 ships, with an additional 100 ships registered outside the country. Marine: The total length of navigable rivers and canals is 3,812 kilometres (2,369 mi). The number of passengers at Polish airports has consistently increased since 1991. Air: Poland has eight major airports (in decreasing order of traffic: Warsaw, Kraków, Katowice, Gdańsk, Poznań, Wrocław, Szczecin, Bydgoszcz and Rzeszów), a total of 123 airports and airfields, as well as three heliports. There are a total of 9,283,000 registered passenger automobiles, as well as 1,762,000 registered trucks and buses (2000). The total length of expressways/highways is 364,657 kilometres (226,587 mi). The Government has undertaken a programme to improve the standard of a number of significant national highways by 2013. Road: By Western European standards, Poland has a relatively poor infrastructure of expressways/highways. [5]. Refurbishment of the network has commenced to bring standards into line with western European railway networks. Rail: The Polish State Railways (PKP) is one of the larger railway systems of central and western Europe, with 23,420 kilometres (14,552 mi) in its network (1998). Telephones - main lines in use: 12.5 million (Raport Telecom Team 2005). Telephones - mobile cellular: 25.3 million (Raport Telecom Team 2005). 2005: Q1 - 2.1% | Q2 - 2.8% | Q3 - 3.7% | Q4 - 4.4%. 2004: Q1 - 6.9% | Q2 - 6.1% | Q3 - 4.8% | Q4 - 4.9%. 2003: Q1 - 2.2% | Q2 - 3.8% | Q3 - 4.7% | Q4 - 4.7%. gminas (commune). powiats (counties). |